It's a shame the TV numbers were so weak for Live Earth. I think it's indicative of the shitiness of the music industry in general. The major labels/RIAA/NAB have combined to effectively kill the golden goose with their idiotic, mafia tactics and watered down, souless, corporate "music" and playlists.

There isn't a new act today - or even in the last 20 years or so - that can draw the same worldwide audience as the Stones or Zeppelin did 30 years ago. A few have came close: U2, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Guns & Roses, to name a few (granted, they're all white-boy, arena rockers, but that's where the money was and still is, I'd bet), but I doubt there will be another anytime soon that will even approach the popularity of those bands.

How can any band like that succeed in today's corporate, pre-fab boy-band culture, where a majority of marketing dollars are being funneled toward the quick-buck, disposable, 12-year-old girl market? If one does, I'd think it's purely by accident at this point.

It's a shame, really.

Of course, I could be completely wrong and the next Beatles could be just around the corner.